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CASE STUDY #1: Determining my Climate Impact for March, 2005, Dan Worth, E.D., NAELS


"I calculated that it would only cost my wife and I about $46.67 to Go Climate Neutral for March by purchasing Greentags to offset the 4414 lbs of CO2 emissions I generated that month"

INTRO: My most recent energy bill showed up last week and, after writing the surprisingly large check, I decided to break the bill down to figure out how much greenhouse gas my residential energy use had produced. This led me into an analysis of my total contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. I did a little research into the causes of global warming and came up with the following assessment of my monthly emissions and what it would take to offset them. I hope others can use this as a model to do the same.

The sooner we all start taking responsibility for our own contributions to global warming, the easier it will be to find global solutions.

STEP 1: Figuring Out My Residential Emissions = Following the CO2

Most of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. result from burning fossil fuels - primarily coal, oil, and gas - to create energy. Carbon in these fossil fuels combines with other elements including oxygen to form greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, or CO2. Reducing one's own contribution to global warming, then, means reducing CO2 emissions, which means reducing energy use.

Electricity:

  • According to my energy bill his past month, ny wife and I used 521 KWh of electricity.

Heat:

  • According to my energy bill, my wife and I used 5 CCF's of natural gas this past month. 100 cubic feet (1 CCF) of natural gas yields about 30 KWh, so I used about 150 KWh.

Adding my electricity use (521KWh) to my natural gas use (150 KWh), I used a total of 671 KWh of energy to heat and run my home last month.

To convert that total into greenhouse gas emissions, I used an online calculator provided by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation as part of their GreenTags program.

For the month:

  • My wife and I are responsible for about 1,251 lbs of CO2 emissions from our home.
  • The total energy bill came to about $200.
STEP 2: Figuring Out My Auto Emissions

I work at home, but my wife commutes all the way from Ann Arbor to Detroit every Monday through Friday. Given the chance, I believe she would take public transportation (not available) or we would buy a fuel efficient car (can't afford one/not available), but her options are limited. So, given the long round-trip commute each day, I set out to calculate the total emissions from our 2003 Ford Escape.

Environmental Defense has an excellent website for calculating auto emissions called the Tailpipe Tally. I plugged in our car and miles driven per year (about 20,000). It turns out my wife and I are using about:

  • 900 gallons of gas peryear
  • At a cost of $1725 per year
  • Leading to nearly 18,000 lbs of carbon dioxide per year.
  • The website also showed me that If my wife drove a 2004, 55.6 mpg, Toyota Prius we would save more than 500 gallons of gas, $1000, and 7500 lbs of CO2 EACH YEAR!

For the month:

  • My wife and I are responsible for about 1,500 lbs of CO2 emissions per month
  • Our gasoline costs us about $150 per month.
STEP 3: Air Travel

In March I flew to New York to attend the annual NAELS Conference at Pace Law School. The conference was a huge success, and I had a great time, but the flight was about 1250 miles round trip. Plugging that total into the GreenTags carbon calculator:

For the month:

  • I was responsible for 1,663 lbs of CO2 this past month.
  • My plane trip cost me about $300, much of which I imagine went to pay for fuel.
Step 4: Calculating Monthly Total
SOURCE EMISSIONS COST
Residential 1251 lbs of CO2 $200
Auto Travel 1500 lbs of CO2 $150
Air Travel 1663 lbs of CO2 $200
Total 4414 lbs of CO2 $550
Step 5: Offsetting My Emissions

Wow! My wife and I produce more than 2 tons of CO2 a month and 24 tons a year! At an estimated cost of over $5000 a year for our energy needs!

These totals both shocked and inspired me to put together this website so that other's could run through the same analysis. It also got me thinking about how to offset or reduce these totals.

A great place to start is the Cool House Brief prepared by Richard Heede as part of a Cool Citizen report he created when he was working for the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). I got some good ideas to reduce emissions as a future homeowner as well as some energy efficiency tips as a renter. As an owner, Richard lays out a ten year path to climate neutrality.

This analysis also motivated me to figure out how to offset my emissions and eliminate my effect on global warming. I found the Green Tags section of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation website. Bonneville sells "GreenTags", described as follows:

  • "Green Tags are created when wind power or other renewable energy is substituted for traditional power.
  • The result is a shift away from our dependence on burning fossil fuel to produce electricity.
  • Using clean renewable energy is friendly to the environment and reduces emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
  • Green Tags represent the real savings in carbon dioxide and other pollutants that occur when green power replaces burning fossil fuel.
  • Renewable energy is still a little more expensive than buying traditional power so Green Tags are purchased in addition to the electricity that you are now using.
  • Buying Green Tags has the same effect as buying green power. Both replace fossil fuel generators with clean renewables, and both have exactly the same environmental benefits
What Can One Person Do?
  • You can offset the polluting effects of your energy use by supporting the development of clean renewable energy.
  • Most traditional power generation relies on burning fossil fuel.
  • Every time we replace existing power with wind, solar or another renewable resource, your electricity pool becomes a little greener and that benefits everyone."

Another great place to find out about other options for purchasing offsets or Green Tags in your state is the website for Green-e - the Renewable Electricity Certification Program and their Pick Your Power map.

$$$

Plugging my total energy use into the GreenTags Calculator, I would need to purchase 28 Green Tags at a total of $560 to offset my yearly CO2 emissions. Each Green Tag costs $20/yr. and offsets about 1400 lbs of CO2 emissions/yr.) Given that this was only one month's worth, I divided by 12 and calculated that:

It would cost me about $46.67 to offset my monthly 4414 lbs of CO2 emissions
Step 6: Spreading the Word

While I know my main focus needs to be on reducing my energy use, Green Tag purchases seemed a great way to offset whatever emissions I couldn't reduce. Given the reltaveily modest price of under $50, this is something I am willing to do every April to significantly lower my impact on global warming.

This turned out to be a great, fun project that got me very engaged and educated on climate change solutions on a very personal level.

I would like to invite Environmental Law Societies and other groups and individuals across the country join me in April to:

  • Calculate our aggregate emissions
  • Try to lower our energy use and raise consciousness about global warming
  • Recruit teachers, parents, and others to do the same
  • Raise/donate funds to purchase Green Tags to offset our collective impacts
  • Encourage our employers and institutions to measure, reduce, and offset their emissions for Earth Day (April 22) and longer if they can.

Together we can Go Climate Neutral, one month or day at a time, starting in April.

To share a case study, please e-mail a summary of what you would like to appear online to the NAELS Executive Director, Dan Worth, at: dworth_99@yahoo.com.

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